HIV Needles

There are now a number of
Hoaxes/Urban Legends that claim that HIV infected needles are being found on
Gas (Petrol) Pump Handles, Cinema Seats, Payphone Coin Return Slots, Dance
Clubs (Discotheques, etc), ATMs, etc. These stories have been
regionalised for most continents and countries, include the US, UK,
Australia, India and probably many others.

This is a copy of one of the actual original hoax
messages:

***********DANGEROUS PRANK:*****************
Please read and forward to anyone you know who drives.

My name is Captain Abraham Sands of the Jacksonville, Florida Police
Department. I have been asked by state and local authorities to write
this email in order to get the word out to car drivers of a very
dangerous prank that is occurring in numerous states.

Some person or persons have been affixing hypodermic needles to the
underside of gas pump handles. These needles appear to be infected
with HIV positive blood. In the Jacksonville area alone there have been 17
cases of people being stuck by these needles over the past five months. We
have verified reports of at least 12 others in various states around the
country. It is believed that these may be copycat incidents due to someone
reading about the crimes or seeing them reported on the television. At this
point no one has been arrested and catching the perpetrator(s) has become our
top priority.

Shockingly, of the 17 people who where stuck, eight have tested HIV
positive and because of the nature of the disease, the others could
test positive in a couple years. Evidently the consumers go to fill
their car with gas, and when picking up the pump handle get stuck with
the infected needle. IT IS IMPERATIVE TO CAREFULLY CHECK THE HANDLE
of the gas pump each time you use one. LOOK AT EVERY SURFACE YOUR HAND
MAY TOUCH, INCLUDING UNDER THE HANDLE. If you do find a needle affixed
to one, immediately contact your local police department so they can
collect the evidence.

This version of the Cinema variant was found
circulating in Australia during October 2001, which is based on a version
that started in the US that has all the same details with the exception of
the place and no mention of the DCC (was CDC in the original).

Subject: A message from Red Cross blood service

This is what the world is coming to...
Sad to see the world has come to this...

HIV Warning A few weeks ago, in a movie theatre in Melbourne, a person sat on
something that was poking out of one of the seats. When she got up to see what
it was, she found a needle sticking out of the seat with a note attached
saying... "You have just been infected by HIV". The Disease Control
Centre in Melbourne reports many similar incidents have occurred in many other
Australian cities recently. All tested needles ARE HIV Positive. The Centre
also reports that needles have been found in the cash dispensers in ATMs. We
ask everyone to use extreme caution when faced with this kind of situation.
All public chairs/seats should be inspected with vigilance and caution before
use. A careful visual inspection should be enough. In addition, they ask that
each of you pass this message along to all members of your family and your
friends of the potential danger. We all have to be careful at public places!
This is very important. Just think about saving a life of someone even you
don't know by forwarding this message. Please take a few seconds of your time
to pass it along.

If you have received a broadcast email titled "HIV warning", please
note that this is a hoax, and is not an official communication from the
Australian Red Cross Blood Service. We regret any inconvenience this may have
caused you."

Please ignore these messages and don't pass them on, as there have been NO
documented cases at this time of any of these things claimed happening.